US missile defense system proves to be useless after $40 bln spent

This US Air Force handout photo shows a Ground-based Interceptor, an element of the overall Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (AFP Photo) / AFP

Despite a decade of testing and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of research, a major missile defense program in the United States has proven to be anything but successful, a new investigation suggests.

Nevertheless, the Missile Defense Agency, or MDA, plans on
conducting next week its ninth exercise of that costly system
since 2004, and the outcome of the drill is expected to influence
whether or not more than a dozen new interceptors are added to
the United States’ arsenal.

According to a recent investigation by the Los Angeles Times, however, that system has
so far been marred by mistakes that raise questions about its
ability to thwart any major attack and the cost incurred during
the last decade.

The results of the Times probe, published by the paper on Sunday
this week, show that Pentagon officials with inside knowledge of
the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, say the
program has suffered from mishaps more often than the US
government would have expected.

“[A] decade after it was declared operational, and after $40
billion in spending, the missile shield cannot be relied on, even
in carefully scripted tests that are much less challenging than
an actual attack would be,” David Willman wrote for the
Times over the weekend.

“Official pronouncements about the GMD system, The Times
found, have overstated its reliability.”

Results have been mixed to say the least since as far as 1999
when GMD testing first began — half of the first 16 tests of the
system's ability to intercept a mock enemy warhead failed, the
Times acknowledged. The system was finally upgraded to
“operational” in 2004, but five of the eight tests held in the
last decade have failed as well.

The GMD system is expected to intercept incoming missiles, like
hypothetical attacks waged by adversaries such as Iran or North
Korea. Even when US officials have scripted test drills to try
out this ability, however, the GMD program has hardly acted as
expected. The last successful intercept occurred five-and-a-half
years ago, and the last three attempts — two in 2010 and one last
July — all were unsuccessful.

"The tests are scripted for success," Philip E. Coyle
III, a former director of operational testing and evaluation for
the Pentagon, told the Times. "What's amazing to me is that
they still fail."

Because of this tainted track record, all eyes are expected to be
on a drill later this month on June 22. MDA Director Navy Vice
Adm. James Syring told Congress recently that the upcoming
intercept flight test remains his “highest priority,” and with
good reason:14 new intercepts could be added to a MDA system
currently composed of 30 if the upcoming test is a success, but
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hinted that failure would mean a
halt in funding.

Speaking before Congress, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said
“not just friends of the United States but even our
enemies” will monitor the next round of testing in order to
gauge the current abilities of the MDA program.

“I’m also optimistic we have identified the cause of the
intercept failure involving our first-generation EKV last July
when the CE-1 failed to separate from the booster’s third
stage,” Syring said. “We have accounted for this issue
in the upcoming flight test and we are working toward a
correction for the entire fleet before the end of the year.”

Regardless, Syring is appealing to Congress for $99.5 million to
begin what he described Wednesday to the Times as "redesign
improvement" that would stop short of a complete overhaul,
sources familiar with the matter told the paper.